Better access to mental health care for those in urgent need

All healthcare clusters to have acute psychiatry services to meet needs islandwide

- Joyce Teo

Acute psychiatry services will be expanded across all healthcare clusters to enable more patients to better access mental health care when they urgently need it.

Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, made the announcement on July 16 at the opening of the Singapore Mental Health Conference at Singapore Expo.

He said that mental health services within acute hospitals remain an important and significant touchpoint for individuals with acute mental health needs requiring specialist care and for those in crisis.

"While the Institute of Mental Health continues to serve as the national tertiary psychiatric hospital offering comprehensive inpatient and outpatient mental healthcare, we plan to expand acute psychiatry services across all our healthcare clusters to meet patients' needs islandwide," he said. "This means that more patients will have greater access to help when they urgently need it."

Currently, inpatient psychiatric care in Singapore is available at six out of 11 public hospitals. These are the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National University Hospital, Changi General Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Sengkang Hospital.

Outpatient specialist mental health services are available at IMH and all acute hospitals.

Dr Koh also announced the launch of a practice guide for mental health care providers to assess conditions — starting with depression and anxiety — and refer individuals with these conditions to receive help, if and as needed.

These moves come amid a national effort to make mental health a key priority. On June 18, the Government launched national mindline 1771, the country's first national mental health hot-line and textline service.